Payment card data attacks worry over half of UK and US businesses

Well over half (60 percent) of US and 52 percent of UK enterprises feel that an attack on payment card data is likely or more than likely.

Semafone conducted a survey during the summer of 2015 on the attitudes and practices of UK and US payments professionals. Contact centres have seen to decrease in payments conducted over the phone. Volume of payments made over the phone have increased or remained the same during the last two years according to 87 percent of UK respondents and 84 percent of US.

Eighty three percent of all respondents (79 percent of US and 86 percent of UK) felt that loss of customers or brand damage would be the worst effects of a payment card data breach. Crisis communication plans have been put into place in case of a payment card data breach for 68 percent of UK respondents and 51 percent of US.

Contact centres don't seem to be prepared for possible attacks as only 46 percent of respondents said that they maintain a full set of Payment Card Industry (PCI) controls to lower the risk of an attack. Eighty one percent of respondents said that they ask their customers to say their card details out loud on the phone.

“Both card and telephone fraud are on the increase in the US and the UK, but it's clear that there is more work to be done to put the right security measures in place. It's good to see that organisations are waking up to the threat of attack and recognising the reputational damage a breach can bring, but we all need to move faster if we want to avoid more large-scale incidents,” said Tim Critchley, CEO of Semafone.

SC Media UK arms cyber-security professionals with the in-depth, unbiased business and technical information they need to tackle the countless security challenges they face and establish risk management and compliance postures that underpin overall business strategies.